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Abstract
The measurement of naturally occurring stable isotope ratios of the light elements (C, N, H, O, S) in animal tissues and associated organic and inorganic fractions of associated environments holds immense potential as a means of addressing effects of global change on animals. This paper provides a brief review of studies that have used the isotope approach to evaluate changes in diet, isotopic niche, contaminant burden, reproductive and nutritional investment, invasive species and shifts in migration origin or destination with clear links to evaluating effects of global change. This field has now reached a level of maturity that is impressive but generally underappreciated and involves technical as well as statistical advances and access to freely available R-based packages. There is a need for animal ecologists and conservationists to design tissue collection networks that will best answer current and anticipated questions related to the global change and the biodiversity crisis. These developments will move the field of stable isotope ecology toward a more hypothesis driven discipline related to rapidly changing global events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keith A Hobson
- Wildlife Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X4, Canada.
- Department of Biology, Western University, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada.
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Rivera-Ruiz DA, Flores-Martínez JJ, Rosales C, Herrera Montalvo LG. Constitutive Innate Immunity of Migrant and Resident Long-Nosed Bats (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) in the Drylands of Mexico. DIVERSITY 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/d15040530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
Abstract
In contrast to birds, the relationship between migration and immunity has been scarcely studied in bats. We examined how the expression of the humoral portion of the constitutive immunity varied in a bat with partial, sex-biased migration: the lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae (Phyllostomidae)). The lesser long-nosed bat is a nectarivorous species distributed in the arid and semi-arid regions of North and Central America. We evaluated the bacteria-killing abilities (BKAs) of the plasma of male and female lesser long-nosed bats on the Pacific coast in different periods of the year. Because adult males are resident, they were used to explore the effect of reproductive activity on BKA, and we predicted higher values in mating males (i.e., individuals presenting scrotal testicles and a fresh dorsal patch). In contrast to males, most females migrate to cactus deserts in northern Mexico during pregnancy and lactation, and then return to the dry forests of west-central Mexico to mate. We predicted that the combined effect of breeding and migration would have an adverse effect on BKA; therefore, migratory pregnant and lactating females were expected to exhibit a lower BKA than mating females in west-central Mexico. We compared the BKAs of females captured in October and December in central Mexico, and we predicted that migratory females that had recently arrived in October should exhibit a lower BKA than females captured two months later. In addition, we compared the BKAs between lactating females and young in northern Mexico and predicted lower values in recently born individuals. We found that the BKAs of males were higher in reproductive individuals than in non-reproductive individuals. We found a significant difference in the BKAs between females at the two extremes of their migratory range: the values of pregnant females in Sonora and females in December were higher than those of females captured in October. Finally, we found no difference in BKAs between lactating females and young individuals. Our findings indicate that the basal levels of the innate humoral component are heightened in mating males, that this response is reduced in females that recently returned to their mating grounds, and that the constitutive immunity of young individuals matures early, probably in anticipation of the potential to encounter pathogens during their migration to west-central Mexico.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A. Rivera-Ruiz
- Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Unidad de Posgrado, Edificio D, 1° Piso, Circuito de Posgrados, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
- Estación de Biología Chamela, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 21, San Patricio 48989, Jalisco, Mexico
| | - José Juan Flores-Martínez
- Laboratorio de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Carlos Rosales
- Departamento de Inmunología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyacán 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Luis Gerardo Herrera Montalvo
- Estación de Biología Chamela, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 21, San Patricio 48989, Jalisco, Mexico
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Sorensen MC, Dixit T, Kardynal KJ, Newton J, Hobson KA, Bensch S, Jenni‐Eiermann S, Spottiswoode CN. Migration distance does not predict blood parasitism in a migratory songbird. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:8294-8304. [PMID: 31380090 PMCID: PMC6662322 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2019] [Revised: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Migration can influence host-parasite dynamics in animals by increasing exposure to parasites, by reducing the energy available for immune defense, or by culling of infected individuals. These mechanisms have been demonstrated in several comparative analyses; however, few studies have investigated whether conspecific variation in migration distance may also be related to infection risk. Here, we ask whether autumn migration distance, inferred from stable hydrogen isotope analysis of summer-grown feathers (δ 2Hf) in Europe, correlates with blood parasite prevalence and intensity of infection for willow warblers (Phylloscopus trochilus) wintering in Zambia. We also investigated whether infection was correlated with individual condition (assessed via corticosterone, scaled mass index, and feather quality). We found that 43% of birds were infected with Haemoproteus palloris (lineage WW1). Using generalized linear models, we found no relationship between migration distance and either Haemoproteus infection prevalence or intensity. There was spatial variation in breeding ground origins of infected versus noninfected birds, with infected birds originating from more northern sites than noninfected birds, but this difference translated into only slightly longer estimated migration distances (~214 km) for infected birds. We found no relationship between body condition indices and Haemoproteus infection prevalence or intensity. Our results do not support any of the proposed mechanisms for migration effects on host-parasite dynamics and cautiously suggest that other factors may be more important for determining individual susceptibility to disease in migratory bird species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marjorie C. Sorensen
- Department of ZoologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of GuelphGuelphOntarioCanada
| | - Tanmay Dixit
- Department of ZoologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | | | - Jason Newton
- NERC Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry FacilityScottish Universities Environmental Research CentreEast KilbrideUK
| | - Keith A. Hobson
- Environment and Climate Change CanadaSaskatoonSaskatchewanCanada
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Western OntarioLondonOntarioCanada
| | | | | | - Claire N. Spottiswoode
- Department of ZoologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- DST‐NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African OrnithologyUniversity of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
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Bowden RM, French SS, Demas GE. Introduction to ecoimmunology: An integrative approach. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART 2017; 327:219-221. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.2114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rachel M. Bowden
- School of Biological Sciences; Illinois State University; Normal Illinois USA
| | | | - Gregory E. Demas
- Department of Biology; Indiana University; Bloomington Indiana USA
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